NBA Sends In Subs for Stars

Amid Lockout, League Pulls Current Players From Its TV Network, Websites

By

Lauren A.E. Schuker

July 11, 2011

Since the National Basketball Association locked out its players earlier this month, news of the labor dispute has dominated NBA.com and official team websites. But one crucial thing has gone missing: the players themselves.

The league removed all images and videos of current players from its digital properties and its television network, NBA TV, after the NBA's collective bargaining agreement expired at the start of the month.

Popular video replays showing top players such as
Dwight Howard
and
Blake Griffin
have been replaced with archival footage of NBA games, photos of retired players and intense news coverage of the lockout.

On individual NBA team websites, generic team logos have taken the place of player head shots.

The changes are among the first effects of the lockout on the league, and they may put the NBA's digital properties and television network into a precarious position.

Advertising on those sites is based on page views, which are liable to decline if the sites don't feature images of players.

"We do not think it is appropriate to be using video and photography of our current players at this time," said NBA spokesman
Mike Bass.
People close to the NBA say that the league doesn't believe it should continue profiting off players by using their images online after locking them out over issues of compensation and revenue sharing.

Turner Broadcasting System Inc., which operates the NBA's digital businesses as well as its TV network, said it isn't concerned about losing player images at a time when fans are fixated on the work stoppage.

"It's what fans want to read about. They want to know what's next, and whether that reporting is as interesting as video highlights from the previous season isn't really for me to say," said
Scooter Vertino,
vice president of content for NBA Digital at Turner, which is part of
Time Warner
Inc.

ENLARGE

Turner has also beefed up NBA history on the site.

On Friday, a top news item chronicled the death of
Armen Gilliam,
a long-time NBA player known as "The Hammer."

On Thursday, the home page of NBA.com featured a prominent image of
Tom "Satch" Sanders,
a veteran player who retired in 1973 and will be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame next month.

Earlier in the week, a news item covered treatment of
Kobe Bryant's
knee injury—but without any photographs of him.

Analysts say that the league's websites could suffer if the lockout continues for a significant period of time.

"Historically, strikes have a negative impact on fan response," says
Jessica Reif Cohen,
a media analyst at BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research. "To me, the issue is that fans get disgusted when there is a strike, and that can create larger issues."

The revenue NBA.com takes in from advertising is small compared with the roughly $1 billion the league's TV-distribution partners make in advertising revenue each year, according to industry analysts, but it has grown significantly in recent years.

In 2010, NBA.com took in nearly $22 million in advertising revenue, according to estimates provided by Barclays Capital.

It is an 88% increase from a year earlier, when NBA.com produced $11.7 million in ad revenue. In 2008, it took in $6.2 million.

In addition, traffic on NBA.com has grown steadily.

In May, NBA.com attracted 12.2 million unique visitors, up 47% from May 2009, when it had 8.3 million, according to research firm comScore Inc.

Any shift in traffic patterns on NBA.com has, so far, not affected advertising on the site, according to a person close to NBA.com who is familiar with its deal structures.

NBA.com hasn't seen any immediate loss in sponsorships for the coming season, this person added, noting that the site is proceeding with deals for next season but "incorporating more flexible options for our advertisers during this time."

The NBA's Mr. Bass declined to comment on whether the league had seen any changes in the traffic patterns on its sites.

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com.